QUEEN’S CRESCENT SCHOOL

 

HISTORY POLICY

Rationale

History offers children the opportunity to learn about the past. Through history children come to learn about chronology and time. Their investigations will introduce them to important events and characters of the past.   The children will come to develop a sense of identity about themselves and the place, country and world in which they live in. They will begin to recognise that things have changed over time and that change continues to happen today.

Through historical enquiry the children will begin to recognise that there are a variety of sources and evidence that help the past to be interpreted and understood. As they move through the school their experience in investigating and studying the past will introduce them to the different types of evidence and that from this evidence different interpretation and opinions may be developed. In the book ‘The teaching of history’ Hilary Cooper writes:-

History is dynamic. In learning about the past through secondary sources, children will discover that accounts differ, and in asking their own questions about primary sources, they will begin to discover why. It is important to social and intellectual development, not solely to historical understanding, to realise that the arguments must be supported and that there is often no one right answer’

History encourages and challenges children to ask questions, to think about how they might find out about the past and why events happened and people lived as they did.

Aims and objectives

History will to enable the children to:-

  • develop an understanding and sense of time
  • to develop an understanding about how things have changed over time and how people have effected these changes
  • to know about significant events and people in the past
  • to develop skills and understanding about how to find out about the past, using evidence and sources
  • to recognise that evidence can be interpreted in different ways and that interpretations of the past may differ
  • to develop a sense of identity about the place, country and world that they live in through understanding and knowing about the past.

Approaches to teaching

History will be taught throughout the school and will usually form a major part of a theme in one or more topics per year. In the early year’s curriculum ‘Understanding of the world’ involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment.

In Key Stage 1 the teaching of history will focus on lives and life styles of their families in the recent past, famous people and events in the past and will include looking into aspects of British history. The work in Key Stage 1 will also begin to develop the children’s understanding of time by, for example, the use of time lines, and by looking in evidence about the past for example the use of photographs, artefacts and paintings.

Key Stage 2 work will build on the skills developed in Key Stage 1 and the children will be taught how to use and interpret a greater range of source material. To recognise the difference between primary and secondary sources and those sources may be interpreted in different ways. The children will investigate in detail specific periods in history; these periods may cover British, European or world history. They will be taught how changes have affected the periods investigated and some of the reasons for these changes. They will improve and develop their history skills in looking into and using a range of evidence and material, develop further their understanding of chronology and historic terms.

Resources

Resources will be developed to support the themes chosen as the study periods in Key Stage 1 and 2. Resources will be stored centrally in the stockroom. They will include copies and reproductions of artefacts, documents, photographs, guides etc. that support the study periods. Wherever possible children will be taken to visit sites and museums which have collections that support the periods being studied for example, the STEAM museum (Swindon) to support learning about the history of Brunel and the railways, Sevington Victorian School and ‘The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre’ (Chippenham). To support both local history and topics the Chippenham Museum, is a very valuable resource. The Education Officer (Mr Skelton) is willing to come into school as well as work with children in the museum.

Assessment

The school’s assessment policy gives a detailed account of how assessment is carried out in the school. Assessments are carried out through teacher set tasks, focused observations, questioning of the children, review of the children’s work. Staff inform parents at parents’ evenings and through the annual reports.

Curriculum links

This policy is supported by a range of whole school policies on, for example, learning, assessment and special needs that will guide and support the work described in this policy.

Equal opportunities

All children will have an equal opportunity to work within this policy area. Account will be taken of their needs and where appropriate support for them will be accessed through the special needs policy.

Roles and responsibilities

This policy has been developed through consultation between staff and between the subject leader, head teacher and governing body. The head teacher, deputy and subject leader monitor and evaluate the work achieved by the children in this area. The leader identifies areas for development, resource needs and helps in the moderation of standards across the school. The leader works with the linked subject governor so that they are aware of such issues. The leader also liaises with the link governor about their visits to school. The linked governor will also keep the governing body informed about developments in this area.  

Monitoring and evaluation

The monitoring and evaluation of the achievements made in this area of the curriculum is carried out through the guidelines on monitoring and evaluation. These set out how the head teacher, deputy head and subject leader use a range of strategies to assess the quality of achievements. The class teachers however, have a key role in monitoring and evaluation of their work and that of the children in their class. The Head teacher works with the governing body to inform them about the work carried out within the school. The periodic reports either through the Wiltshire School Improvement programme’ or OFSTED inspections give independent and outside views on the standards achieved within the subject area.